Gary Peters

Gary Charles Peters

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 2", Weight 200 lb.
• School Grove City College
• High School Mercer High School
• Debut September 10, 1959
• Final Game September 23, 1972
• Born April 21, 1937 in Grove City, PA USA
• Died January 26, 2023 in Sarasota, FL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

One of the best-hitting pitchers of his generation, Gary Peters was used regularly as a pinch-hitter during his career. He homered in nine straight seasons, 1963-1971, something unmatched since. In the last of those seasons, Peters launched two pinch-hit home runs to tie the major league single season record for pitchers. Those two blasts gave Peters 4 pinch home runs for his career, breaking Lynn Nelson's record of 3.

Peters allowed three or fewer earned runs in each of the first 25 starts of his career, tied for the longest steak of such starts (excluding opener starts) to begin a live ball era career.

On May 26, 1968, Peters started the first game of a doubleheader for the Chicago White Sox in Yankee Stadium and batted sixth in the order, ahead of Duane Josephson, Luis Aparicio, and Tim Cullen. He went 0-for-2.

Peters claimed that in his first year of pro ball J.C. Martin was the better prospect at first base, so Peters was put in the outfield. When some of the pitchers came up with sore arms, manager Skeeter Scalzi picked Peters to pitch because he "had a pretty strong arm in the outfield". He went on to say he had no curve or change-up, only a fastball [1].

He was originally signed by scout Fred Shaffer.

Notable Achievements

• 1963 AL Rookie of the Year Award
• 1963 Topps All-Star Rookie Team
• 2-time AL All-Star (1964 & 1967)
• 2-time AL ERA Leader (1963 & 1966)
• AL Wins Leader (1964)
• 15 Wins Seasons: 4 (1963, 1964, 1967 & 1970)
• 20 Wins Seasons: 1 (1964)
• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 7 (1963, 1964, 1966, 1967 & 1969-1971)
• 200 Strikeouts Seasons: 2 (1964 & 1967)

Records Held

• Pinch-hit home runs, season, by a pitcher: 2 (1971), tied
• Pinch-hit home runs, career, by a pitcher: 4 (1963-71)

Career Highlights

• Pitched one hit shutout for Chicago White Sox against Baltimore Orioles on July 15, 1963
• Pitched two hit shutout for Chicago White Sox against Washington Senators on June 5, 1966
• Pitched two hit shutout for Chicago White Sox against Oakland Athletics on July 7, 1969

AL Rookie of the Year
1962	1963	1964
Tom Tresh	Gary Peters	Tony Oliva

Related Sites

• Gary Peters at the SABR Bio Project